Dick Contino
Encyclopedia
Dick Contino is an American
accordion
ist and singer.
Contino studied accordion primarily with San Francisco-based Angelo Cognazzo, and occasionally with Los Angeles
-based Guido Deiro
. Early on he exhibited great virtuosity on the instrument. Although he graduated from Fresno High School in 1947 and enrolled at Fresno State College, he was unable to concentrate on his studies. Contino explained, "I enjoyed college, but while attending classes I kept thinking that if I was going to be a success, it would be my music that would take me there."
Contino got his big break on December 7, 1947 when he played Lady of Spain
(his signature piece) and won first place in the Horace Heidt
/Philip Morris talent contest in Fresno which was broadcast on national radio. Contino also won first place in subsequent competitions in Los Angeles, Omaha
, Des Moines, Youngstown
, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, and New York City
. He won first place in the final round on December 12, 1948 in Washington, D.C. Contino had a hit single with Lady of Spain in early 1949. The song peaked at #47 on the US pop charts. Eddie Fisher
had much better success with the song 1952.
Contino toured with the Horace Heidt Orchestra and was billed as the "world's greatest accordion player." He appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show
a record 48 times.
However, his success was interrupted when Contino was drafted
during the Korean War
. Contino, at the time earning a reported $4,000 per week, ran away from pre-induction barracks at Fort Ord, and was jailed for a few months for draft dodging
before serving in the United States armed forces
. The resultant scandal dealt Contino's career a serious blow, but he continued performing, including acting in a few movie
s in the 1950s and 1960s.
Contino's acting became known to a new generation in 1991, when "Daddy-O
," a low-budget 1958 movie in which he played the starring role as a faddishly-dressed beat rebel and singer, became the centerpiece of an episode of the third season of "Mystery Science Theatre 3000."
Contino continues to perform regularly throughout the United States. His repertoire is eclectic, ranging from Italian songs such as "Come Back to Sorrento" and "Arrivederci Roma
" to standards like "Lady of Spain
" and "Swinging on a Star
." He possesses a virtuosic technique (often incorporating extremely rapid fingering, glissandos, and bellows shakes) and is also a skilled jazz improvisor.
James Ellroy
wrote a novella
, Dick Contino's Blues
, which is a mini-memoir and crime story based on Contino's experiences as a struggling artist after the war. It is included in the 1994 Ellroy short story collection Hollywood Nocturnes
. A version appeared in issue number 46 of Granta
magazine (Winter 1994) along with several photographs of Contino and the author. Ellroy also penned a short story entitled Hollywood Shakedown which appeared in his collected work "Crime Wave
" and featured Contino as the central character. The story is entirely fictitious as it features numerous incidents of violence and murder which Contino had never been linked with or accused of in reality.
Contino is married and lives in Las Vegas
, Nevada
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
ist and singer.
Contino studied accordion primarily with San Francisco-based Angelo Cognazzo, and occasionally with Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
-based Guido Deiro
Guido Deiro
Count Guido Pietro Deiro was a famous vaudeville star, international recording artist, composer and teacher. He was the first piano-accordionist to appear on big-time vaudeville, records, radio and the screen. Guido usually performed under the stage-name "Deiro"...
. Early on he exhibited great virtuosity on the instrument. Although he graduated from Fresno High School in 1947 and enrolled at Fresno State College, he was unable to concentrate on his studies. Contino explained, "I enjoyed college, but while attending classes I kept thinking that if I was going to be a success, it would be my music that would take me there."
Contino got his big break on December 7, 1947 when he played Lady of Spain
Lady of Spain (song)
"Lady Of Spain" is a popular song, written in 1931 by Robert Hargreaves, Tolchard Evans, Stanley J. Damerell, and Henry Tilsley.-Performance:...
(his signature piece) and won first place in the Horace Heidt
Horace Heidt
Horace Heidt was an American pianist, big band leader, and radio and television personality. His band, Horace Heidt and His Musical Knights, toured vaudeville and performed on radio and television through the 1930s and 1940s.-Biography:Born in Alameda, California, Heidt attended Culver...
/Philip Morris talent contest in Fresno which was broadcast on national radio. Contino also won first place in subsequent competitions in Los Angeles, Omaha
Omaha
Omaha may refer to:*Omaha , a Native American tribe that currently resides in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Nebraska-Places:United States* Omaha, Nebraska* Omaha, Arkansas* Omaha, Georgia* Omaha, Illinois* Omaha, Texas...
, Des Moines, Youngstown
Youngstown
Youngstown may refer to:A place*Canada**Britannia Youngstown, Edmonton, Alberta**Youngstown, Alberta*United States**Youngstown, Florida**Youngstown, Indiana**Youngstown, New York**Youngstown, Ohio***Youngstown State University...
, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He won first place in the final round on December 12, 1948 in Washington, D.C. Contino had a hit single with Lady of Spain in early 1949. The song peaked at #47 on the US pop charts. Eddie Fisher
Eddie Fisher (singer)
Edwin Jack "Eddie" Fisher , was an American entertainer. He was one of the world's most famous and successful singers in the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show. His divorce from his first wife, Debbie Reynolds, to marry his best friend's widow, Elizabeth Taylor, garnered...
had much better success with the song 1952.
Contino toured with the Horace Heidt Orchestra and was billed as the "world's greatest accordion player." He appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
a record 48 times.
However, his success was interrupted when Contino was drafted
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. Contino, at the time earning a reported $4,000 per week, ran away from pre-induction barracks at Fort Ord, and was jailed for a few months for draft dodging
Draft dodger
Draft evasion is a term that refers to an intentional failure to comply with the military conscription policies of the nation to which he or she is subject...
before serving in the United States armed forces
Military of the United States
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
. The resultant scandal dealt Contino's career a serious blow, but he continued performing, including acting in a few movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s in the 1950s and 1960s.
Contino's acting became known to a new generation in 1991, when "Daddy-O
Daddy-O
Daddy-O is a 1958 B-movie starring Dick Contino. It was directed by Lou Place and written by David Moessinger. The film is notable for its soundtrack as being the debut film score for composer John Williams...
," a low-budget 1958 movie in which he played the starring role as a faddishly-dressed beat rebel and singer, became the centerpiece of an episode of the third season of "Mystery Science Theatre 3000."
Contino continues to perform regularly throughout the United States. His repertoire is eclectic, ranging from Italian songs such as "Come Back to Sorrento" and "Arrivederci Roma
Arrivederci Roma
"Arrivederci Roma" is the title and refrain of a popular Italian song, composed by Renato Rascel, with lyrics by Pietro Garinei and Sandro Giovannini. It was published in 1955 as part of the soundtrack of the Italo-American musical film with the same title, released as Seven Hills of Rome in...
" to standards like "Lady of Spain
Lady of Spain (song)
"Lady Of Spain" is a popular song, written in 1931 by Robert Hargreaves, Tolchard Evans, Stanley J. Damerell, and Henry Tilsley.-Performance:...
" and "Swinging on a Star
Swinging on a Star
"Swinging on a Star" is an American pop standard with music composed by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was sung by Bing Crosby in the 1944 film Going My Way, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song that year, and has been recorded by numerous artists since...
." He possesses a virtuosic technique (often incorporating extremely rapid fingering, glissandos, and bellows shakes) and is also a skilled jazz improvisor.
James Ellroy
James Ellroy
Lee Earle "James" Ellroy is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a so-called "telegraphic" prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, staccato sentences, and in particular for the novels The Black...
wrote a novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
, Dick Contino's Blues
Hollywood Nocturnes
Hollywood Nocturnes is a 1994 collection of short stories by James Ellroy. Like many of Ellroy's novels, the majority of the stories are set in 1940s and 1950s. The collection was inspired by Ellroy's having seen the film Daddy-O and finding cosmic significance in the image of Dick Contino, whom...
, which is a mini-memoir and crime story based on Contino's experiences as a struggling artist after the war. It is included in the 1994 Ellroy short story collection Hollywood Nocturnes
Hollywood Nocturnes
Hollywood Nocturnes is a 1994 collection of short stories by James Ellroy. Like many of Ellroy's novels, the majority of the stories are set in 1940s and 1950s. The collection was inspired by Ellroy's having seen the film Daddy-O and finding cosmic significance in the image of Dick Contino, whom...
. A version appeared in issue number 46 of Granta
Granta
Granta is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centers on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make real." In 2007, The Observer stated, "In its blend of...
magazine (Winter 1994) along with several photographs of Contino and the author. Ellroy also penned a short story entitled Hollywood Shakedown which appeared in his collected work "Crime Wave
Crime Wave
Crime Wave can refer to:* An increase in crime - or perception of an increase in crime - in a particular period and place* Crime Wave , film starring Sterling Hayden* "Crime Wave" , season 3 episode 8 of CSI Miami...
" and featured Contino as the central character. The story is entirely fictitious as it features numerous incidents of violence and murder which Contino had never been linked with or accused of in reality.
Contino is married and lives in Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...